usahoe18

Ok, heres the deal. What usually happens is we do not roost a gobbler the evening after. I've never really had luck doing that. The morning of the hunt, we usually do not hear anything at first light, so we just go to a known ridge on the other side of a creek and make a few calls. Nothing ever happens, so then we just wait until one gobbles and then go after him. Basically a run-n-gun scenario.

What all do you guys do? Am I doing something wrong?

However, I did see 2 gobblers roost on the creek while deer hunting in November. Will this be there usual roosting site in the spring?

gmil6184

You might want to try an owl hooter or some other locator call at first light to try to shock a gobble out of them. I usually don't put the birds to bed at night, but only because from hunting our place as much as I have I basically know where they are going to be anyways. If you are having trouble locating where they roost see if you can find out their usual route when they fly down. Most of the time you can pattern them pretty good. For example where I hunt there was this group of birds that would not make a sound on the roost, but by 830-900 they would be in the middle of this huge field gobbling their brains out. So instead of trying to get them off the roost, try to beat them to the field and wait for them to come to you. As for the roosting site you found in November, there is no way to tell if they will be there in the spring, but turkey are creatures of habit so it is definately a possibility. I would certainly scout there. Look for an area with some nice tall trees, with lots of feathers and dropping around them, good luck!

Gamblinman

Roosting gobblers in the spring is usually dominated by where the hens are roosting. Gobblers may not roost in the same tree, but close by. Keep your distance, listen and let the turkeys do their thing naturally. Most toms gobble at least once when they get in the tree, if not several times. Patience will be your reward. It may take several days to finally get the right set-up on an 'ol gobbler, but it wil be well worth it. Since your hunting ridges, never give up the high ground. Try to make your set-up where you will call the turkey uphill to you.

mauser06

scouting will help you find birds. you cant locate birds that arent there.

birds are generally vocal on their own off the roost like a rooster...

when i am going to hunt a new spot for the first time, and it needs scouted, i go in and find their scratchings and droppings...that means they feed there. i dont do that till a month or 2 before the season...later the better if you live in a state that has a winter...i know here, our birds can stay flocked up till april if the winter is bad and stay in a winter pattern. better to find their feeding and roosting habits closer to the season if possible.

when i find the feeding areas i try to find the roosting area on foot...sometimes they are easy to locate by reading the terrain and finding the droppings under the roosting trees, other times i cant find them. either way, i find a good listening spot and an easy, quiet access route. a couple weeks before the season, on a nice fair weather day when the birds aughta be talkin, i sneak in well before daylight and find me a stump to sit on and wait for day break and for them to sound off. if your near the feeding area you found the fresh scratchings in, chances are they aint real far off...stay away from walking through or close to likely roosting trees(generally bigger trees with alot of nice big branches..usually high on a ridge or somewhere they can see a good ways from the limb...or i find them on points and hillsides alot of times....USUALLY not always the case though)

if i dont hear them sound off, i will hit my crow call...not a turkey call...but a locator call..whatever you use..owl, crow, peacock, whatever works for you...i dont remember not being able to find them if i did my scouting right...after that, i try to pattern them...i try to figure out what way they flew down and what direction they were heading...i will hit the locator every so often to keep tabs on them if needed...half hour or whatever....turkeys usually move slow and feed alot...

after that, you should be into the birds and having better hunts....theres been mornings i did my homework and had textbook hunts with birds pitching down to my lap...just gotta do the homework plain and simple...now that i been hunting the same spots for so long, i been lazy and havent done that in a while unless hunting a new spot...usually birds in the same areas year after year unless something changed in the area

SwampCollie

It depends on exactly where you are located in North America, but most likely not. You may well see turkeys in that same area, but turkeys usually have spring patterns and winter patterns that are different from each other. The farther north and the farther west you are in the US, the more extreme those patterns can be. You'll see huge flocks of birds in the winter, sometimes of more than 100 birds. They will occasionally "migrate" (sort of... though not terribly far) to an area they know historically has enough food to sustain them for the winter.... in the spring, they bust back up again. Gobblers almost always bust up the spring... just like deer will.

As to are you doing anything wrong?

That sort of depends. What exactly are you doing? You expressed that you have never had any luck roosting a gobbler the night before. Historically, I hunt about an hours drive from where I live... so I haven't had any luck either... just because I'm not there to do it. With few exceptions, when I have gone to roost a bird in the evening, I have been successful at having that bird gobble again in the morning. I'm about 50% (optimistically) at killing those birds. Roosted is not roasted as the saying goes. How are you going about it? What have you tried?

What I can't figure out is why you aren't hearing any birds gobble at first light? I have had some birds like that before, but typically that is a weather related issue. It can occasionally mean that they are roosting with the hens, espeically in the early spring before the season opens. In most parts of the country, when the season opens, the gobblers have already split up, and often established dominence. With easterns in my part of the world, that can mean you won't hear a ton of gobbling... perhaps only one bird... but thats the king of the hill himself. You have to challenge the dominent bird in the early season. Taking him out will blow things open... sort of like a turf war with gangs. Its amazing really. Thats not always the case. If you have a lot of turkeys, then you will usually hear lots of gobbling, because there are lots of hens to go around. Property layout has much to do with it as well.

Give us a bit more info, and hopefully we'll see some updated pictures of you this spring with a limbhanger! Just don't get discouraged!

OKbowhunter20

I usually roost them the night before, or a few nights before, so I know where they will be in the morning. Then I can get set up in a good position in the morning before they fly down.

FlywayControl

Turkeys usually make one big circle daily.Sounds like your farm is in the middle of the circle.Like said eariler,you cant hear a turkey that isnt there.

Mr. Longbeard

Dude if you not hearing birds gobbling... It's time to look for a new spot

usahoe18

It's birds there. Caswell County, NC the #1 turkey county in NC. What I'm saying is we usually here like one on somebody elses property, but I havn't heard myself 2 or 3 in different locations out there. My friend did go one morning and heard like 5 different ones. I guess it depends on if they sound like sounding off that morning.

We use crow, owl, whatever calls, so thats not the problem. All I'm saying is the way people talk, it sounds so damn easy to kill a turkey. The birds we hunt are highly, highly pressured so that could be one factor to think about. We've been out there 2 years and have killed 1 bird. It just seems like every time we go the birds arent gobbling all that good.

MrGobbler43

all else fails slam your truck hood you be suprised what will spark an old gobbler then go after him....